Fish in the Sea
by Jeebus dirtface
Summary: Hinata has a nightmare. Naruto finds her. Sakura watches their exchange in secret. Oneshot. Implied NaruHina and SakuNaru.


Author's Note: I'm attempting a one-shot here. My last one failed…it turned multi-chaptered. I don't think I've tried one before that. It's also to make up for deleting my NaruHina multi-chapter fic. I just didn't like where it was going.

Sakura skipped along the street. Well, she didn't literally skip, but she could have, had it not been a thing called dignity for her. Anyways, she made her way through the night in Konoha after having a particularly successful date with a chunnin. She had a good feeling about this one.

Ever since Sasuke had gone and betrayed them, after the initial grieving period, she decided to move on with her life. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, right?

As she continued on her merry little way, her ninja senses picked up on an unmoving presence. Quickly concealing herself in a bush, she peered through. Her training had taught her that you can never be too careful or 'Look underneath the Underneath' as Kakashi would put it.

Peering through an ever so slight clearing between the leaves, she identified the girl as none other than Hyuuga Heiress sitting on the bench, with her head between her knees. Before she could reveal her presence, she heard another person coming across. She thought it better to stay concealed, just in case. After all, one could never be too careful?

"Hinata, is that you?" The voice belonged to none other than Uzumaki Naruto. The mentioned girl jolted slightly, shuffled before looking up.

"I'm f-fine."

"Eh? You don't look fine. Have you been crying?" She was stunned momentarily, before shaking her head furiously. She did not want to appear weak in front of the person who gave her strength.

"You don't look like you haven't been crying. You have been crying, haven't you?" Inner Sakura urged Sakura to just thwack Naruto one. He could really be an insensitive jerk.

Naruto decided to be a jerk a bit longer and sat beside Hinata, causing the poor girl to jump away from him slightly. He grinned in response.

"You're always so touchy, Hinata. I'm not diseased or nothing!" An automated reply came from Hinata's mouth, in form of an apology.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Naruto only continued to grin stupidly, Sakura thought. And it's 'I'm not diseased or anything!' Inner Sakura so helpfully pointed out.

"But seriously, why were you crying?" Sakura suppressed her ever growing urge to reveal herself and attack him.

"It-it was nothing. Just a nightmare." Suddenly, Naruto turned serious.

"It's not a just a nightmare. Not if it can make you cry." Sakura and Hinata were both taken off guard by that one. It's as if he spoke from experience, mused Sakura.

Hinata, on the other hand, was quite perplexed. She was torn between spilling out her self-doubts and worries which credited to her nightmare and curious as to what Naruto was getting at. Did he have nightmares? Naruto, the one who stares fear and adversity in the face and challenges themto death matches? Surely not!

"So, come on, spill it! What was your nightmare?" He returned to his normal cheerful self. Hinata looked away on instinct, thumbs twiddling and all.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that!" He moaned. Hinata couldn't resist her long time crush any longer.

"Um…well, it was about if…well…" She continued to beat around the bush, which only caused Naruto to grin some more. Sakura was once again let down by his insensitivity. For a moment there, she thought there was another side to Naruto, but she was just clutching at straws.

"If…my family disown me." She finally managed to finish the beating of the bush. Suddenly, Naruto looked downcast all of sudden, and even turned away.

"Yeah, that would be a bad thing." He murmured. Sakura was further confused at her team mate's behaviour. He'd just switched suddenly; mood swings finally kicking in, perhaps?

"Naruto-kun, did I say something…" and then she realized. Naruto had no family to lose in the beginning. He never knew family.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun, I didn't realize"- he raised his hand in dismissal and smiled widely.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan! I'm fine!" Inner Sakura sighed. He could be so transparent with that act sometimes. A period of silence followed, surprisingly broken by the quietest person there.

"Wh-what is your nightmare?" She asked, awfully forward for someone like her.

"You know, how I always say how I want to become Hokage and have everyone acknowledge me?" He paused shortly, "well, if I fail. I know people think its stupid and a joke, but it's my dream. So I guess my nightmare is just the opposite." Suddenly Hinata became uncharacteristically forceful and even a bit loud in her speech.

"No, Naruto-kun! It's not a silly dream or a joke! I think it's a wonderful ambition to have! I'm sure you'll make it there one day!" Once she finished, she realized how forward she was, and her blush became visible under the night light to an astonished Naruto and Sakura. Yes, that was the power of the Hinata blush.

After the astonishment wore off, Naruto smiled serenely. A smile that Sakura never thought she'd ever seen before. He got up and turned away.

"Thanks Hinata. That really cheered me up. I think I can actually go to bed and sleep well thanks to you." He began to walk away but then stopped.

"You know, Hinata, you _really_ are a girl I could like." She yelped slightly at the sentiment before blushing furiously.

"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun." She called after as he walked away.

Sakura decided it was time for her to split. As she was out of hearing range, she cursed under her breath. There were plenty of other fish in the sea, right? She just missed the one that made the biggest splash in front of her.

Author's Note: So that was it…my one-shot…Review if you want to or whatever.


End file.
